BURKINA FASO: Teenagers pulled off bus and shot as violence escalates
MORE THAN a dozen people, including teenagers, were fatally shot after their buses were stopped by terrorists in Burkina Faso.
Sources close to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) highlighted a spate of attacks with fear now “strongly taking hold of the civilian population”.
The Diocese of Nouna, in the north-east of the country, suffered a deadly attack on 6th October 2025 when three teenagers who were returning from Mali for the start of the school year were pulled off a bus and shot.
The attack took place in Djibasso parish, in Madouba commune.
Hours later, vehicles on the road from Nouna to Dédougou were fired upon. At least 15 people were killed, including several from Solenzo parish, on a bus that was hit.
The previous day, in Fada N’Gourma Diocese, a catechist from Kouala commune was kidnapped during Sunday Mass but has since been released.
A local source, who cannot be named for fear of reprisal, told ACN: “He was specifically targeted. The goal is to spread fear among the Christians.
“Sometimes the Christians are permitted to pray, but just as quickly they can be subjected to abuse, to make them flee.”
Just days earlier, on 21st September, in the same diocese, another catechist from Saatenga was murdered in an ambush as he returned from a pastoral meeting in Diabo.
According to information received by ACN, the roads in the region are increasingly dangerous, and terrorists are circulating in groups composed of fewer members, though the reasons for this are unclear.
A source said: “Many Christians have decided to run the risk of remaining, despite the increasingly serious threats in some parts of the diocese. Fear has strongly taken hold of the civilian population.”
Rumours of a return of terrorist activity have been spreading and some local communities have allegedly received threats from the terrorist groups in past weeks.
In its 2025 edition of the Religious Freedom in the World report, published on 21st October, ACN highlights the situation in Burkina Faso, which up until 2015 was considered a model of interreligious harmony in West Africa.
The country has faced a sharp deterioration in security since late 2015, emerging as one of the main epicentres of jihadist violence in the Sahel where attacks by jihadists linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have caused more than 20,000 deaths and seen two million displaced.
In 2024, the country accounted for one in every five of all terrorism-related deaths in the world, with 1,532 people killed, the report states.
The violence has also caused the death or kidnapping of dozens of religious leaders, as well as the closure of around 30 parishes.
Almost half of the country’s territory is currently under the control of armed groups, who threaten both Christians and Muslims.
Access the report here
Sign ACN’s Article 18 petition defending freedom of religion here
With thanks to Christophe Lafontaine.
